Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Hou San led the two of them through the crowd from the side to the east side of the building, which was the entrance and exit for railway station staff. Next to it was the station police station under the jurisdiction of the Beijing Railway Public Security Bureau.

Once you open the door, you'll find the work area, where train station employees usually rest and change shifts.

The corridor was lined with offices on both sides, each with a small wooden sign with white background and black lettering hanging on the door.

The water supply team and the crew team of the passenger transport section are not together, so Li Xiangdong asked Hou San to accompany A Zhe to report to the crew team.

He walked to the water supply team's office, knocked on the door, and when there was no response, he pushed the door open and looked inside.

"Why is there no one?"

Li Xiangdong muttered something to himself, then pushed open the door and went inside.

The office is a little over 50 square meters, with a very simple layout.

There was a double-layered wooden shelf against the wall by the door, with water cups on top and lunch boxes on the bottom. Several thermos bottles were on the ground next to the shelf.

There was only one large desk in the middle for communal use, surrounded by about ten chairs, and two wooden filing cabinets on each side against the wall.

The innermost wall is entirely made up of individual storage cabinets.

Li Xiangdong walked to the desk, placed the cloth bag on it, and then pulled out a chair to sit down.

At this moment, Hou San walked in and called out, "Brother Dong, why are you the only one in the office?"

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "That's what I wanted to ask you too."

Hou San scratched his head. "Everyone else has a car accompaniment arrangement, but our team leader should be there."

He placed the empty tea box on the desk. "Brother Dong, sit down and rest for a while. I'll go see if our team leader is in the office next door."

A short while later, Hou San followed in a rather sturdy-looking man. The man was about thirty years old and exuded an air of authority. His work clothes looked very neat and without a single wrinkle.

"Brother Dong, this is Team Leader Liu from our water supply team."

Hou San introduced him briefly, then winked at him and said, "This is my brother-in-law, my own brother, Dong-ge, you didn't expect that, did you?"

"Let me tell you, Brother Dong, my eldest sister and second sister are both ticket sellers at the Beijing Railway Station, and my second sister's husband is a train police officer at the station's police station. He's about to be promoted to deputy director."

Hou Jianshe has two sons-in-law: one is the head of the water supply team in the passenger transport section, and the other is a train police officer who is about to be promoted to deputy director of the police station. It seems that Hou Jianshe has poured all his resources into his two sons-in-law.

Hou San, that simpleton, is really lucky. Although he's not very ambitious, he has people taking care of him, so he can live a comfortable life until retirement.

Li Xiangdong listened to Hou San's boasting with a smile on his face, but his heart was filled with sourness!

"cough cough"

Team Leader Liu coughed twice. "You must be Comrade Li Xiangdong? Welcome to our water supply team family. If you encounter any difficulties at work, you can tell me directly."

Li Xiangdong stepped forward and extended his hand. "Thank you for your help, Team Leader Liu. I'll need your help a lot in the future. Just call me Dongzi."

Team Leader Liu nodded, extended his hand and shook hands with him, "There are still empty lockers, you can choose one to use."

He took two keys out of his pocket, one ordinary and the other a small iron bar about the size of a finger with two 'teeth' welded on it.

"This is the key for the train. Keep it with you and don't lose it. If you find that your key is missing, report it to the train conductor on the train. If you lose it outside, come find me."

Li Xiangdong took the keys and nodded emphatically.

Team Leader Liu patted him on the shoulder, "Don't be nervous, it's just a key that's used on trains, just be careful with it."

He pointed to the hat on his head and said again, "Also, remember to dress neatly and wear your hat to work from now on."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangdong quickly took out his hat from his pocket and put it on.

Hou San didn't take it seriously, until his brother-in-law, Team Leader Liu, glanced at him. Only then did he reluctantly take the hat out of his pants pocket and casually put it on his head.

Team Leader Liu walked over to Hou San, reached out to straighten his hat, and continued, "Our water supply team only has two openings this time, you and Hou San. Dongzi, you just started, so you need to get on the bus and familiarize yourself with the work. Tomorrow, you two will go to Tianjin with the bus."

Li Xiangdong said, "Understood, Team Leader Liu."

Team Leader Liu turned to Hou San and instructed him, "San'er, you've been on the road before, so you know what to pay attention to. Give Dongzi a good talking-to tomorrow."

"Okay, brother-in-law, I understand."

Hou San was very excited. He never thought he would one day be able to become a master, even if it was only temporary, he was still happy.

"Brother-in-law, what time will we take the bus to Tianjin tomorrow?"

Team Leader Liu took out the schedule from his pocket, looked at it and said, "The bus is at 10:30. This time, the main purpose is to let Dongzi get familiar with the work. The schedule is very flexible. You two can stay overnight in Tianjin and come back on the 2 PM bus the next day."

The two nodded to indicate that they understood.

Hou San sidled up to Team Leader Liu and said obsequiously, "Brother-in-law, where did you put your tea? Can I have some?"

Team Leader Liu asked in surprise, "Can you get used to my tea?"

Hou San retorted, "Who said I'm not used to it?"

"Then you can get it from my locker yourself."

Team Leader Liu handed the locker key to Hou San, saying, "Remember to close the lid properly, otherwise the tea won't taste good if it gets damp."

Hou San took the key and said impatiently, "I know, I know."

Team Leader Liu smiled helplessly; he had no way to deal with his brother-in-law. "Remember to take Dongzi out to get familiar with things later. I have some things to do, so I won't stay with you two."

Li Xiangdong said, "Team Leader Liu, you go ahead and get busy. I'll ask Hou San if I have any questions."

"Okay, if you don't understand anything, just ask him. Also, let him tell you what you need to bring on the trip tomorrow."

Team Leader Liu glanced at Hou San and then walked out.

Hou San then closed the door, took the key, ran to his brother-in-law's locker, opened it, and took out a tea box.

He went back to his desk and dumped all of his brother-in-law's tea leaves into his father's empty tea box.

Li Xiangdong looked at him like he was an idiot. "What are you thinking? Can't your father even tell the difference between Tieguanyin tea and Jasmine tea?"

“My dad has been drinking tea for decades, how could he not tell the difference!”

Hou San patted his brother-in-law's tea box until not a single jasmine tea leaf or tea dust remained before giving the empty box back to his brother-in-law in the locker.

Li Xiangdong said speechlessly, "You know your dad can tell the difference, so what are you doing all this for? How about I give that bag of Tieguanyin tea back to you? I'm starting to feel uneasy about what you're doing."

"Brother Dong, it was supposed to be yours, I don't want it."

Hou San first refused Li Xiangdong's offer, then said smugly, "I have a reason for doing this. My brother-in-law loves Zhang Yiyuan's Jasmine Broccoli."

“If my dad sees that his tea leaves have turned into broken jasmine flowers, he will definitely think that my brother-in-law switched his tea leaves, and then it has nothing to do with me.”

Li Xiangdong: "..."

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